Oops- MFW weeks 5,6,7...

Whoopsies-been a busy few weeks!  We spent these weeks learning about fallish type things like trees and leaves, pumpkins and the seasons.  We went to a friend's house and did a special study on Columbus Day.  The kids loved learning with their friends.  And then of course, we have continued co-op this month.  I am assistant teacher for October so it's been fun to be a part of class with them this month.  A new thing we have started doing is memorizing a bible verse each week.  Adler also uses the verse for copy work.  I am so amazed and proud of both the kids at how quickly they are memorizing scripture and also how they are applying it.  They both are sure to point out when they use their "honeycomb words" (pleasant words are a honeycomb, sweet to the soul and healing to the bones.  proverbs 16:24).  This week we are using as a review week to reinforce some things we have been working on the past 7 weeks.  I can't believe we have been in school almost 8 weeks!  They are doing so well and we are all three really enjoying it.  Here is a glimpse of some of the things we have done!

Counting chips for his number of the day

They counted to 100 before they got bored trying to figure out how many cubes the schoolroom was long

More math

And more math....how many different ways to separate the animal counters.  My favorite thing about math so far is how practical and hands on it has been!

Recess

And school with friends

This is pizza, just forgot to take a picture of them making it.   Hazel was learning the letter "p" so we stayed in pajamas, made pizza for lunch, pancakes for dinner and painted pumpkins:).

And finally, a little study on pumpkins!  We did pumpkin activities in co-op, learned about them at home and also went to a pumpkin patch! 

MFW weeks 3 and 4

Not a whole lot to say about these weeks- we were super busy and they flew by!

Both weeks we talked about flowers and seeds.  We dissected a flower to see the parts of it, watched how flowers drink colored water and turn the color of the water, and made our own dye out of flower petals.  We also examined beans and watched them over the week as they sprouted a paper towel.  

We also talked about seasons and made little books with pictures of each season.

Here are a few pictures we took over the last two weeks...

We learned how bees and butterflies pollenate by pretending to be them as they drank nectar (juice) and ate Cheetos (Cheetos dust acted as pollen).  They got pollen (Cheetos) everywhere!  

A little m&m sorting and graphing

Painting her trees for each season

Made a dozen muffins for "dozens day" (our number of the day was 12 that day)

Examining and sketching flowers

Making our own dye from flowers (but shhhh- I cheated and used flowers that were artificially dyed- I wanted to make sure it would work- ha)

Our seeds sprouted...the kids were amazed. 

MFW1 wk 2

Last week we continue to review kindy phonics rules and handwriting (we are both ready to start some new stuff!).  We talked about scrolls and made small scrolls and printed Genesis 1:1 on them. This year our history comes from the Bible as MFW believes in starting from the beginning:).  We talked about the Jewish calendar and how it is different from our calendar.

For science, we talked about soil.  We watched a show about composting and collected leaf litter to examine.  We also scooped soil into a jar and added water to watch the different layers of the soil separate.  We also made a layered snack showing the different soil levels (marshmallows for bedrock, Cheerios for subsoil and cocoa Krispies for the topsoil/humus).  And the kids had fun playing in a big dirt pile.

For math, we talked alot about patterns and made some of our own patterns.  We went on a walk and found lots of patterns in nature too.  Since Hazel was learning about the letter B, we made butterflies with some pretty patterns too.  

We also belong to a co-op that meets one morning a week.  They are learning about community helpers so we were all able to go to the fire station this week.  It was so fun- the kids both decided they want to be fire fighters now!

It was a pretty fun week.  I think we are finding our pace nicely.  I know that may change next week when we start adding new things.  But I am looking forward to it:). 

For love of the outside

A big part of educating the Charlotte Mason style is putting a strong emphasis on nature as part of educating and developing the child.  She suggests that students spend ample amount of time observing and being a part of nature.  A really great article here can tell you about the benefits of nature studies.  But the gist of it is that lays a foundation for science and makes it interesting; it cultivates curiosity and investigation and the ability to understand in abstract ways; and it basically gives children a view of how much God loves is and teaches them to worship Him over the small (but oh, so big) blessings in nature. That's just a few reasons but enough to get me so on board with it.  It's really an idea that we have always practiced in a way because since before the kids were walking, we have always spent a lot of time outdoors, collecting acorns, picnicking, watching the clouds.  So this is such a natural extension of that.  

 We have only had two weeks of official nature walks/journaling but what joy we have found in it already.  The kids each have their own nature pack which is a bag that has all the "gear" they may need on the walk: a journal and colored pencils, a ruler, tape, flashlight, some ziplock bags, binoculars, and magnifying glass.  We are still new so there may be some things we will want to add to their packs.  We have a guide we are following that had us doing certain things.  Last week we looked at earthworms, mushrooms and ants.  This week, we collected leaf litter and soil samples that we put in a jar of water to see the soil separate from into layers.  Hazel drew a picture of an ant she found in her leaf litter, along with some twigs and leaves.  Adler drew a soil mite we found hiding under a leaf.  My sister, Shannon, suggested I start my own nature journal as well, which I intend to do next week (I am sort of mad at her for coming up with all the good ideas.  She always does  that:/).

MFW1- Week 1

First week of school!  We had a great week!  Adler says he wants to be a chef when he grows up because "I always wanted to slice a carrot" and hazel wants to be a spy.

This first week, we concentrated on just getting our homeschool groove.  The program calls for a few light weeks before we get down to the nitty gritty of first grade:).

I introduced the kids to the calendar notebooks we will be doing every morning first thing.  In it, they practice handwriting as they write the days of the week and month, math skills as they graph the weather and figure the days of school, and learn about time and money through various sheets.

This week, we learned about things on the ground.  We especially concentrated on ants and worms! 

We read lots of books on things on the ground and watched several shows on them.  Adler especially liked wild kratts "squirmy wormy" episode.  We prepared and ate a delicious worm pudding (pudding and cookies and gummy worms).  We also went outside and observed ants.  We put some bread soaked in honey next to an ant hill and watched as the ants discovered the bread.  It took them awhile (around 15 minutes!) but once they found it, they were all over the bread.  For a minute, we thought we killed them because they were all so still on the bread.  I guess they were just busy eating it.  We later learned the Forager ants get the food and fill their bellies up and then regurgitate in in the ant nest for the other ants to eat- gross!  We talked about how we are to work hard like ants and how God gives us each special jobs like He gives the ants.  We must all work together.  We then drew in our nature journals about what we saw as we explored outside.  

(I don't remember seeing anyone being eaten by ants though!)

Hazel was learning her own stuff in addition to tagging along with Adler in his learning.  She was learning the letter F.  In keeping with the close to the ground theme, the kids created flowers out of scraps of paper that I just really love. 

All in all it was a great first week.  I hope to keep this up on the blog. I thought it would be such a nice record to have one day:). 

Curriculum!

Wow!  I never knew just how much STUFF was out there.  Going through curriculum choices was like my adult version of getting a toy catalog in the mail as an 8 year old.  The choices seemed limitless and it mostly all looked fun.

I kept coming back to hands on curriculum with lots of books and not lots of worksheet type set ups.  I know I want my children to have the opportunity to learn and challenge themselves, but I also wanted something that fostered creativity and well, childhood:).  I knew I did not want something rigorous.  The past few years, I have really felt led to more of a play centered learning style when they are young (under 7).  And even after 7, I wanted to be able to give them opportunities to learn in an (don't hate me for using this word), organic way.  For example, my son gets absolutely fascinated with a particular thing and for about a span of 1-2 weeks, it just consumes him.  What better opportunity to learn than during that time!   

So anyway, we ended up choosing My Father's World.  It was written by a missionary couple who homeschooled their own children and felt the calling to create a curriculum program.  A large portion of their sales actually goes to publishing Bibles in different languages.  Anyway, first and foremost, this program is bible based.  It infuses Christian worldview into all subjects.  It (some of this is straight from website) "utilizes hands on, unit studies with daily lesson plans" and enables families to learn together.  Many of the programs can be taught (at different levels) to a range of ages together.  It combines Charlotte Mason and classical style of learning with a biblical worldview and international focus.  

We have only done 2 weeks of it but I am so very excited to see how it works in our lives!